Smooth and Fast

Pace Chart

Danish research has revealed that women outperform men in distance running because they are better at maintaining a consistent and controlled pace. Research shows that both men and women excel if they maintain a steady pace and they reap certain health benefits with this kind of running.

The Danish study gathered data from 1.8 million finishers from 131 races around the world to scrutinize the strategies of males and females and then determine the best pacing strategy that would bring better performance and health improvements. Researchers concluded that women are 18.61 per cent better at pacing.

Often driven by ego, men tend to prioritize their ranking rather than their health and running performance. In order to improve pacing, researchers found that runners should be willing to take it slow until finding a pace that seems natural. It is best to forget about the competition and the crowd, because these factors would drive you to go faster than what you are capable of and lead to burn out, injury and poorer performance. Men and women should practice pace so it comes naturally during a race.

Starting out slow and ending slow seems to be a great strategy to maintain an optimum physical performance. Better pacing would help runners enjoy the activity more and forget about pressures like pride and ego. By pursuing consistent pacing in marathons, runners can have better experiences and more success.